5 Steps to Retaining Stellar Teachers

With the latest government education policies wreaking havoc within the teaching sphere, it’s become harder than ever for schools to retain talented staff. The latest national statistics reveal the extent of the crisis, with almost four in 10 teachers quitting within a year of qualifying. Not to mention an alarmingly high number of experienced educators giving up the ghost mid profession.

For schools, this means it’s essential to offer staff as many incentives as possible to stay on-board. Here’s our guide to keeping your talent in the classroom.

Provide growth opportunities

While not every teacher aspires to be a principal, they do crave opportunities to learn, grow and advance their careers. If you provide your staff with meaningful opportunities and challenges, they’ll be far more inclined to stay. Stuck for inspiration? Curriculum planning, academic coaching, mentoring, research and professional development leadership are all great places to start.

Be human

Running a school can be hectic, but that doesn’t mean you should ever overlook humanity. Take the time to check in with teachers and ensure that their needs are being met. Burnouts, health issues and high stress levels are the last thing you want. We guarantee that offering your teachers a better work/life balance will drastically improve the climate and community of the school.

Seek feedback

As well as making your teachers feel valued and appreciated, seeking feedback is a great way to enhance and enrich the way your school operates. You can use feedback to arm the decision making process with an in-depth understanding of how teachers experience the school.

Encourage collaboration

Isolation breeds contempt and competitiveness. Instead, unify your staff by encouraging collaboration and teamwork wherever possible. For example, do you have teachers which are specialists in music? Other staff may feel confident teaching drama or dance – ask these staff members to team up to put on a school musical production. If some teachers are fluent in other languages they could set up an after school or lunchtime language club. This can form partnerships and bonds within the school community which are difficult to leave.

As you may have gathered, there’s no ‘quick fix’ strategy for retaining teachers. Keeping talent on your team requires a holistic approach steeped in creativity, innovation and a genuine desire to offer them the best possible workplace experience.